Blank Verse vs. Prose Characters with status and intelligence speak in verse,

while characters from the “lower classes” speak only in prose. This creates a contrast between them.

Blank Verse - poetry written in unrhymed iambic

pentameter

Prose - Natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic

structure; ordinary language people use in speaking or

writing.

Iambic Pentameter

A sound pattern

Makes the words rhythmic and the dialogue in the

play more engaging

Helped the actors remember their lines (like a

song)

Iambic IAM: one unaccented (or unstressed) syllable with one

accented syllable

Unstressed : ň

Stressed: ń Example: goodBYE

Each IAM of two syllables is called a foot

It’s like a heartbeat:

ba-bum | ba-bum | ba-bum | ba-bum | ba-bum

I AM | I AM | I AM | I AM | I AM

PentameterPenta = 5, Meter = sound

Iambic Pentameter Five “feet” per line

Ten syllables total per line

he WENT to TOWN toDAY to BUY a CAR

In SOOTH / I KNOW / not WHY / I AM / so SAD

Examples of Iambic Pentameter

When I / do COUNT/ the CLOCK/ that TELLS/ the TIME

When IN/ dis GRACE/ with FOR/ tune AND / men’s EYES

How many syllables per line?

Pattern?

How many syllables per line?

10

Pattern

Unstressed stressed

Features of a Shakespearean sonnet?• 14 lines– 3 quatrains (4 lines each)

– 1 couplet (2 lines)

• Follows a specific rhyme scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFGG

• Each line is written in iambic pentameter– Each line consists of 10 syllables.

– The syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs.

– An iamb= unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable

Shakespearean Sonnet StructureA B A B

C D C D

E F E F

G G

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1st Quatrain: Establishes the subject, main theme, or main metaphor of the sonnet.

2nd Quatrain: Develops the sonnet’s theme and/or Extends the metaphor.

3rd Quatrain: Often contains a turn or twist called a volta, introduced with the word “but.”

Couplet: Rhyming pair of lines. Conclusion to the sonnet.

Sonnet 18Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C

And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; D

And every fair from fair sometime declines, C

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm’d; D

But thy eternal summer shall not fade E

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; F

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, E

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; F

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G

The PrologueMeaning ‘before

speech,’ it gave the

audience hints about

what they were

about to see and

asked them to try

and understand even

if it didn’t all make

perfect sense.

Romeo and Juliet PrologueTwo households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their death bury their parents' strife.The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,And the continuance of their parents' rage,Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;The which if you with patient ears attend,What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Modern TranslationTwo families, both of the same eminent status,In the fair city of Verona, Italy, where this play takes placeA long-standing grudge will erupt into new violence.The violence stains civilized hands with blood.These two deadly enemies bore offspring.These children are fated to fall in love and commit suicide.Whose unfortunate struggles and tragic actions inspires pityWhen the lovers die, the families finally stop fighting.The thrilling story leading to their doomed love that will cause their deathsAnd their parents’ ongoing feudWhich would never have ended without the death of their childrenIs what we will perform over the course of this two-hour playAnd if you listen carefully and patiently,What was left out in this prologue, we will work hard to fill in the details.

In your notes, explain the R+J Prologue Structure

A B A B

C D C D

E F E F

G G

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1st Quatrain: What is the subject established?

2nd Quatrain: How is the subject developed or elaborated?

3rd Quatrain: What is the volta explained to be?

Couplet: What is the concluding message of the sonnet?